concertina226 writes: Surgeons at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, Shaanxi province in Northwest China are using 3D-printing in a pioneering surgery to help rebuild the skull of a man who suffered brain damage in a construction accident.

Numerous international experts were called in to consult on the case as the surgery to repair Hu's skull is particularly risky and complicated.

The patient's scalp and meninges (protective membranes covering the brain) melded together after the accident and had to be carefully peeled apart before the titanium mesh can be implanted.

concertina226 writes: University of Texas engineers have created the world's smallest, fastest and longest-running tiny synthetic motor to date – an invention that could change the future of medicine by powering nanobot computers to dispense drugs and fight cancer cells throughout the body.

Led by mechanical engineering assistant professor Donglei "Emma" Fan of the Cockrell School of Engineering, the team of researchers set out to create a three-part nanomotor 500 times smaller than a grain of salt and tiny enough to fit inside a human cell.

While most nanomotors rotate at the speed of 14 to 500 RPMs, the new ultra-high speed nanomotor can rotate for 15 continuous hours at the speed of 18,000 RPMS, which is equivalent to the speed of a jet airplane engine.

concertina226 writes: Surgeons at a hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are conducting the first human trials into the use of suspended animation, whereby a patient's body is cooled down and suspended between life and death in order to buy time for doctors to save their lives.

The first 10 potentially fatal gunshot or knife wound victims to be brought to the UPMC Presbyterian hospital's emergency room at the end of March will be subject to a ground-breaking technique, whereby on-call surgeons will replace all the patient's blood with a saline solution.

While the trial could potentially be a breakthrough in emergency healthcare as surgeons would have 2 hours to save a life instead of 45 minutes in normal induced hypothermia, it is controversial as neither the patient nor their family can give consent to the suspended animation treatment.

The FDA has approved the trial only because life and death situations are considered to be exempt from informed consent.